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Important Postal Terms:  Understanding Postal system terms helps a lot while sending, receiving, or even working with mail. Postal terms comprise all from mail terms to delivery services to regulations, and much more, all used by postal systems across the globe. These terms can come in handy to someone who is dealing with high-density mail, a postal service worker, or any consumer interested in the delivery mechanism of mail from sender to recipient. To make yourself familiar with basic postal terms, here is a list of more than 50 important terms, along with their meanings, that you must check out.

List Of 50+ Important Postal Terms And Their Meanings:

1. Air Sack: It is an Informal term for a sack containing a few pieces of mail, also called a skin sack.

2. Air to Surface Diversion: It means moving mail from air to surface transportation to maintain service commitments.

3. Air Tray: It is an Informal term for a tray with a few pieces of mail, often an overflow tray.

4. A Label Service: It is a priority mail express that holds for Pickup service, using specific labels for identification.

4. Abandoned Mail: It means physically lost or unclaimed mail

5. Backstamp: It is a marking on the back of a mailpiece with a postmark to show receipt or dispatch.

6. Backtrack: It simply means delivering mail to a point mistakenly bypassed by the carrier.

7. Bag Rack: It is equipment for sorting mail, also known as a sorting rack.

8. Balloon Rate: It is a special rate for Priority Mail and Parcel Post items weighing less than 15 pounds but large in size.

9. Barcode (BC): Series of vertical bars representing numeric info, often a ZIP Code, for mail automation.

10. Bin: Separation in sorting equipment for mail distribution.

11. Black Bag: A reusable pouch for transmitting postal documents and reports overnight.

12. Block Face: One side of a street used for ZIP+4 code assignments.

13. Board of Governors: Group directing USPS policies and expenditures.

14. Bound Printed Matter (BPM): Standard Mail weighing 1 to 15 pounds with at least 90 per cent printed advertising or editorial content.

15. Brace: A bracket in a sort scheme showing multiple post offices sharing mail supply.

16. Buck Slip: Informal written communication for transmitting papers and info.

17. Dimensional Weight: Postage calculation based on package size or weight, whichever is greater, for certain zones.

18. Drop Shipment: Mail is transported privately closer to the destination before entering the postal system.

18. DADC: Destination Area Distribution Centre.

19. Eligibility: Standards mail must meet specific prices or discounts.

20. Endorsement: Authorised marking on mail showing handling instructions or services requested.

21. Entry Facility: USPS mail processing facility where mail is entered by the mailer.

22. Forward: Redirecting mail to the new recipient address after a change of address.

23. Franked Mail: Official mail sent without postage by authorised government officials.

24. Full Flat Tray: A tray filled enough with flatsized mail for presort destination preparation.

25. Known Office of Publication: Business office where Periodicals mailing privileges are authorised.

26. Less Than Full Tray: Tray with mail for one destination not preceded by a full tray for that destination.

27. Letter: Message directed to a person or address recorded on a tangible object; also, lettersize mail.

28. Letter Size Mail: Mailpieces not exceeding 11½ inches long, 6⅛ inches high, ¼ inch thick.

29. Library Mail: Package subclass for academic institutions, libraries, museums, etc.

30. Line of Travel (LOT) Sequence: Mail arranged by delivery order for carrier route pricing.

31. Meter Reply Mail (MRM): Preprinted return mail with prepaid postage using meter stamps.

31. Marriage Mail: A shared advertising where multiple businesses' promotional materials are joint together into a single mailpiece

32. Meter Stamp: Postage printed by a postage meter or PC Postage system.

33. Metered Mail: Mail with postage printed by a USPS-approved meter.

34. Military Ordinary Mail (MOM): Department of Defence official mail needing faster service than surface sealift.

35. Military Post Office (MPO): Branch serving overseas military personnel, includes APO and FPO.

36. Official Mail: Government mail sent without postage, including franked and penalty mail.

37. Optical Character Reader (OCR): It is an Automated mail sorting procedure, interpreting addresses and printing ZIP Codes as barcodes.

38. Optional Endorsement Line (OEL): They are the printed characters on the address block for mail sortation and ACS codes.

39. Origin Network Distribution Centre (ONDC): It is a pre-sort price discount for Parcel Select mail prepared at the origin NDC.

40. Outsert: It is an external attachment to a mailing piece.

41. Overflow Tray: A less-than-full tray containing leftover letters after full trays of letters for the same destination.

42. Oversized Price: Parcel Post price for pieces over 108 inches but no more than 130 inches combined length and girth.

43. Packet: It is a small package or box mailed through the postal service.

44. Pallet: Flat transport structure stacking mail containers for handling and shipment.

Also Read: Did You Know India’s First Post Office Was Set Up In 1764?

45. Penalty Mail: It is an official government mail sent without postage, bearing a penalty indicia instead.

46. Periodicals Mail: They are a special kind of mail category for newspapers and magazines.

47. Pickup on Demand: It is a service provided for mail collection from the sender on request.

48. Postmark: It is an official USPS marking showing the date and place of mailing.

49. Post Office Box (PO Box): They are the locked boxes at the post office for mail receipt.

50. Presort: It is a process of sorting mail into delivery order before entering the postal system for discounts.

51. Priority Mail: It is a USPS expedited mail service with guaranteed delivery times.

52. Registered Mail: It is a secure mail service with tracking and insurance options.

Also Read: Which Indian Place Has The World’s Only Floating Post Office?

53. Return Receipt: It is a document that confirms that the service provider provides the sender with mailing confirmation and the recipient's signature.

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54. Savings Stamps: Small-denomination stamps used for saving purposes.

55. Sealed Bag: The term simply means a mail bag that is sealed for secure transport.

56. Standard Mail: It is a bulk mailing service for advertising, catalogues, and newsletters.

The above-mentioned list of 50+ key postal terms helps you keep the jargon confusion away while sending professional or personal letters. These industry-specific terminologies will help you greatly to reach out to postal services with confidence. Understanding these basic and field-specific jargons makes your mail communications easier and helps people and businesses with easy mail processing, saving costs, and also effortless learning about postal rules.